Dolphins (IMAX) (2-Disc WMVHD Edition)

Buy This Item Dolphins (IMAX) (2-Disc WMVHD Edition) by Image Entertainment  Available from Amazon  $18.99  on 8-28-2008     Plunge into the realm of wild dolphins in this great adventure film MacGillivray Freeman Films, producers of the large-format films "Beavers" and "The Living Sea." In "Dolphins," you'll experience the warm, white sand banks of the Bahamas where the inquisitive dolphins live and play. Find out how we are unraveling the mysteries of dolphin communication. Here, you'll also meet a bottlenose dolphin named JoJo who explores the colorful reefs with his human friend Dean. Brimming with details about the complex lives of these fascinating animals, this ocean adventure film takes you into the very heart of the world of Dolphins. Narrated by Pierce Brosnan, music by Sting. Ever wonder "how did they do that?" "The Making of Dolphins,'" shot on High-Definition Video, takes you behind the scenes. Disc 2 includes the complete feature in Microsoft Windows Media High Definition, playable on your PC. Reader Reviews This is a great production about dolphins. It was shot on 70mm film for Imax theaters and converted to DVD. Needless to say, the footage is stunning (and extremely difficult to shoot). 70mm film captures an incredible image and the overall quality of the footage is outstanding. It is a bit weaker on the content side. Due to the constraints of shooting Imax film, the main feature is not very long (about 40 minutes), and the segments tend to be short as well. Also, this project concentrated more on a scientific angle and emotional appeal than the excellent "Dolphins - Tribes of the Sea" DVD. While there is a certain amount of similarity and overlap between these two DVDs, the focus and content are a bit different, and the extra features on this DVD are as good, if not better, than the main feature itself. In my "Tribes of the Sea" review I needle this DVD a bit about the female scientist (Kathleen Dudzinski) and her skimpy red swim suit, but that is all in good fun (and I am certainly not complaining!). In all fairness, the footage of Dean Bernal in his skimpy swim suit provides good balance and gender equity. Seriously, though, both sets of footage of these humans swimming with dolphins shows the similarity of grace and motion of our respective body types, and is not at all out of place. In fact, I think it is something that should have been more clearly addressed. This is a highly polished, Hollywood feature production, and one expects that sort of production value in what is basically a promotional piece for our oceans. One of the things that bothered me about this DVD was that it seemed to focus on people more than the dolphins. Not a bad thing if you want to create identification and connection in your audience, but not something I cared much about. The other minor nitpick I had with this DVD was the constant sense of people (scientists) being superior to these "wild animals," and not considering that they are more than just cute, smart, seafaring dogs that need our wise protection. I happen to think they may well be far more intelligent than we, and are certainly far more capable physically than we humans. That shallow, scientific/academic snobbery is something that always rubs me the wrong way, and, for me, taints the way dolphins are portrayed in this production. (It would tickle me no end to find out that it is the other way around, and we end up needing their kindness, compassion, and knowledge to survive. We'll have to wait a bit and see on that one.......) Dean Bernal was refreshingly open about his dolphin pal Jojo and stood out in sharp contrast by thinking of the dolphin more as an equal. The "Tribes of the Sea" DVD was much more open in speculating about dolphin culture and intelligence, as well as demonstrating far more strikingly just how incredibly bright they are. It made me feel like the dolphins were being considered as sentient beings equal to ourselves, instead of cute, kind of smart, curiosities to be studied and groomed in aquatic stables. This DVD definitely lost points with me on that score. I'll wager that the reality of the cetacean soul will prove to be far more than scientists can imagine (not that scientists are known for imagination.......or souls). Still, this is a great DVD about dolphins, with great footage and some real human warmth managing to sneak through, especially in the "Making of" extra feature (this DVD is worth getting just for the short scene in here of dolphins watching themselves dance underwater in front of a mirror - absolutely wonderful and amazing!). There is also a Windows Media Video version on a separate disc for playing on your computer, and lots of other features and references to more dolphin material (all with the proper scientific slant, of course). If you can only get one dolphin DVD, get "Tribes of the Sea." If you can get two, get this one as well. These two together give an outstanding glimpse at the wonderful world of our cetacean brothers and sisters, and should be required viewing on a regular basis.

Dolphins (IMAX) (2-Disc WMVHD Edition) Available from Amazon Price: $18.99 Updated on 8-28-2008.

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